Blues Images Presents...1920s Blues Classics Vol. 5 (Blues Images, 2008)

November is already here, so it's time to place your order for the 2011 Blues Images calendar. If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you probably already know how great these items are on account of the featured artwork and the accompanying 16-track CD with sound quality that rivals even that of Yazoo releases. 2008 may not have been a good time for the economy, but the soundtrack for that year's calendar helped make things a little more bearable. Any middle-class white males like myself out there who think that they've had it tough during the last several months don't have a thing to complain about compared to what black folks from the rural South had to endure under Jim Crow laws during the 1920s and 1930s. Prewar blues recordings sometimes help keep things like that in perspective.



Blues Images head honcho John Tefteller typically assembles wonderfully diverse compilations, and this one is no exception. "Range in My Kitchen Blues" leads things off and pairs singer Alger "Texas" Alexander with guitarist Lonnie Johnson, a seemingly incompatible combination of "country meets city" that somehow works. This is the best that Blind Lemon Jefferson's "One Dime Blues" has ever sounded, so you still might want to check it out even if it's something you've previously experienced in lower fidelity elsewhere. Prewar blues collectors don't seem to get as excited about "Mississippi Jailhouse Groan" as they do for "Ham Hound Crave," which collectively represent Rube Lacy's entire discography. Although not as rhythmically interesting, the former is still one of the most lowdown prison-related blues performances ever committed to wax. The similarly under-recorded Blind Joe Reynolds remains a relatively obscure prewar blues figure more as a consequence of the lousy sound quality on his extant recordings than from his considerable but admittedly idiosyncratic performing skills. Reynolds' unique guitar style and wonderfully untutored moaning vocals on "Nehi Mama Blues" and the Cream-era Eric Clapton touchstone "Outside Woman Blues" mark him as a musician who was utterly sui generis. The appropriately-titled "Deep Moaning Blues" by Ma Rainey is the most compelling classic female blues performance on this CD, which also includes the so-so "Cold and Blue" by Ida Cox and the novelty Christmas number "Santa Claus Crave" by Elzadie Robinson. The probable 1887 birth date of Louisiana-born and Mississippi-raised Sam Collins makes him a contemporary of Charlie Patton and other important first-wave bluesmen whose repertories also included songster and religious material. He might enjoy greater recognition today if not for the fact that he was less than competent when playing guitar in a conventional fashion, even in spite of his outstanding singing voice. However, Collins could play the instrument effectively when he utilized a slider, as conclusively demonstrated on his best-known piece, "Jail House Blues." Although I prefer Gus Cannon's work with the Jug Stompers, he also recorded a handful of interesting banjo-guitar duets alongside Blind Blake as "Banjo Joe" in 1927, with "Madison Street Rag" being a fine example of their collaborations. Is it just me, or does Cannon sound like he's singing in slow motion on this number? The ubiquitous Blind Blake appears under his own name three times on this compilation, including the largely instrumental showpiece "Seaboard Stomp" (pay special attention to how he uses his guitar to imitate the sounds of other instruments), the thematic "Low Down Jail House," and "Ain't Gonna Do That No More," which contains a laundry list of activities in which the virtuoso will no longer participate. "The New Shake That Thing" provides the listener with some variety in the form of vintage string band sounds from the Mississippi Sheiks, while Blind Willie McTell and Mary Willis contribute with the previously uncompiled "Talkin' to You Wimmen About the Blues" b/w "Merciful Blues." The former features the same melody as Blind Blake's "Georgia Bound" (which was also the basis of Robert Johnson's "From Four Until Late"), and the latter brings attention to McTell's underrated slide guitar playing.


1. Range in My Kitchen Blues - Texas Alexander
2. One Dime Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson
3. Mississippi Jail House Groan - Rube Lacy
4. Nehi Mama Blues - Blind Joe Reynolds
5. Deep Moaning Blues - Ma Rainey
6. Jail House Blues - Crying Sam Collins
7. Madison Street Rag - Banjo Joe (Gus Cannon)
8. Seaboard Stomp - Blind Blake
9. The New Shake That Thing - Mississippi Sheiks
10. Low Down Jail House - Blind Blake
11. Cold and Blue - Ida Cox
12. The Santa Claus Crave - Elzadie Robinson
14. Talkin' to You Wimmen About the Blues - Blind Willie McTell & Mary Willis
15. Merciful Blues - Blind Willie McTell & Mary Willis
16. Outside Woman Blues - Blind Joe Reynolds

BLIND JOE REYNOLDS' PHOTO ID USED FOR FREE BUS
AND TRAIN RIDES AS A RESULT OF HIS VISUAL IMPAIRMENT